Natsu and Lucy: Her Guardian Angel
by giNgaNiNja707
Summary: [ FIRST FANFIC] Lucy finally starts to realize her true feelings for Natsu. But it takes some self convincing, some alone time and some drunken antics. And for one of them to suffer a terrible injury. A Nalu story.
1. Chapter 1

***Okay so this is my first fanfic. Please tell me what you think and how I did! Reviews, tips and pointers would be appreciated***

**Chapter 1: Day off**

It was a normal morning like any other. Lucy awoke in her bed to the sounds of birds, and the people of the beautiful city of Magnolia getting reading for the day. As to her normal morning routine, Lucy got a shower, made herself some tea and breakfast, and decided on an outfit for the day.

Most of her guild mates knew her for always looking pretty and having a great sense of style, but she had been with Fairy Tail for almost 1 and a half years now (8 if you include the 7 years she spent sealed on Tenrou Island) so she didn't really feel the need to impress anyone with her looks and fashion sense as much.

So today she decided to throw on a simple pair of black leggings and a white tank top. She tied her usual bow in her hair, grabbed her celestial spirit keys and made her way to the guild.

* * *

On her way to the guild she thought about the missions that her, Natsu and Happy might go on.

"_Maybe we'll search for lost treasure! Hmm... no... I'll probably end up somewhere I shouldn't be or it'll be guarded by some monster and Natsu will have to save me. Maybe well fight some bandits... which Natsu will probably end up taking them all out himself. Or maybe well fight some wizards from a dark guild... which I'll probably need Natsu's help with at some point..."_

Lucy couldn't help but see a re-occurring pattern in almost all of the missions they went on together. In almost every mission they've been on, Natsu has saved her.

She began to recall all the times where she needed him and he was right there beside her. She knew that if there were one guy she could always count on, it was Natsu. A small smile began to creep up onto her face and her cheeks started to blush a light shade of red.

Then she realized what she was thinking and quickly shook her head clean before any more blush-inducing thoughts made their way into her mind.

She then began to remember all the times he made her angry with him. The times when he would break into her home uninvited, the times when he would destroy **everything** while on a mission, resulting in them not getting paid, and the times he accidentally burned her.

"_He's an idiot..." _she thought _"But still... he's the best."._

* * *

After a short walk she was at guild. She made her way through the doors only to be hit smack in the face by a snow cone.

"Hey! I was gonna eat that you ass-hole!" Gray shouted, no doubt at Natsu for smacking the snow cone out of his hands.

"Then next time before you go to eat something, make sure you're not sitting in my spot!" he shouted back at Grey.

"Since when is this your spot?! I don't see your name anywhere!"

"I carved it under the chair!"

Natsu lifted the chair to prove to Gray that he had indeed carved his name under it but there was nothing to be found.

"Huh? It was here yesterday." Natsu said puzzled.

"You ever think that the chair you marked might be in a different spot that it was yesterday, hothead?!"

"You wanna go, snowflake?!"

"Bring it on, fire breath!" And just like that the two mages were fighting as usual.

"_Yup..." _Lucy thought while sighing _"Just a normal day..." _

She walked around the cloud of dust, fire and ice that was Natsu and Gray's latest brawl to the request board where Happy and Erza where standing watching them duke it out.

"What are dumb and dumber fighting about today?" Lucy asked Happy.

"I don't know. Something about Gray sitting in Natsu's spot?" The blue cat replied.

"So the usual pointless stuff?" Lucy sighed.

"Aye!" said Happy.

"Shouldn't you probably stop it before it gets out of hand, Erza?" Lucy asked the scarlet haired mage.

"I'll let them fight it out this time. It's been pretty boring around here lately, and their fights can be kind of entertaining sometimes." she replied with a smirk.

Lucy gave a nervous chuckle and smile as her reply.

She turned her attention to the request board to look for a fitting job for Natsu, Happy and herself. "Hmm... not many high paying jobs here today..." Lucy said with a tad of disappointment in her voice.

"There haven't been many good requests lately." Erza said to Lucy. "That's why things haven't been to interesting."

"Well dammit..." Lucy said feeling slightly frustrated. "I was hoping that me, Natsu and Happy could of went on a job. My rent will be due in 2 weeks and there was this really cute dress I was hoping to buy."

"I wouldn't be able to go anyways" Happy said. "I promised Carla and Wendy I'd help them with their job."

Lucy, who was now slightly jealous, looked at Happy. "And what would that job be?" Lucy asked with hopes that she could ask (or invite herself) to accompany them.

"The job is to catch some rare fish for this guy. Wendy asked me to come because I'm sort of and expert on fish." Happy said proudly.

"Sure you are..." Lucy said under her breath.

"I'd ask you to tag along too Lucy, but the pay isn't high enough to split between 4 people."

Lucy signed "Well great! What am I supposed to do all day now?"

"Why don't you take the day off and have some fun?" Erza said to Lucy, trying to relieve some of her disappointment.

"Hmm... well I did just get back from a long unsuccessful job the other day... and rent isn't due for 2 more weeks so that's plenty of time to make some money. Yeah, I could use a day for fun!" Lucy said feeling in much more high spirits now.

"Only question now is what am I gonna do for fun?" Lucy thought out loud. She turned to Erza "Hey Erza! Wanna have a girls day?" Lucy asked

"Sorry" she replied "I'd like to but I have matters to attend to."

"Awww... you're no fun." Lucy said disappointed once again.

"Where's Levy?" she asked "Maybe she'll want to have a girls day."

"She's gone on a mission with her team." Erza replied

"Why don't you and Natsu do something today? With Happy gone he'll be looking for someone to keep him busy today. And I doubt Grey would be up for that."

"_Hmm_ _I've hung out with Natsu in towns while we were on jobs, but we've never just hung out here in Magnolia." _Lucy thought."Well... I would of preferred a day of just us girls but I suppose a day with Natsu could be fun too."

"Good" Erza said. "It'll give you two some time to bond."

Lucy's eyes widened and her face blushed a light red for some reason. Erza looked at Lucy and noticed this.

She smikred and said "Oh, so you like the idea of bonding with Natsu do you?" she said teasing Lucy.

Lucy's face blushed an even deeper shade of red after Erza's remark. "W-what do you mean?" Lucy said panicked

"Well I'm sure if you and Natsu had a whole day to yourselves, you could get to know each other a lot better."

Lucy hid her face from Erza to hide her even deeper blushing cheeks. "W-why would I need to get to know Natsu better? We're already best friends!" Lucy replied.

"There are more ways you can 'get to know someone'" Erza teased. She knew that this was getting to Lucy and Lucy herself didn't know why this making her blush so much.

"Speak of the devil." said Erza which practically made Lucy jump up from where she was standing.

Natsu walked over to the two mages, rubbing the top of his head. "Damn that Gray! I bet he hid the chair I carved my name into just as an excuse to fight me!" He said.

"You two dolts never need an excuse to fight." Erza said crossing her arms. Natsu gave a nervous chuckle and then looked at Lucy who was trying her best to hid her blushing face from the dragon slayer.

"Hey Luce! I seen you looking for job requests while Gray had me in a headlock. Not very many good requests though." Natsu said.

"Uh y-yeah... too bad huh?" Lucy said with a very nervous tone in her voice that Natsu didn't pick up on, but Erza did.

Erza didn't know why but she was feeling very devious today.

She smirked and said "Lucy was just saying that since there are no good jobs to take, she was going to take the day off and needed someone to spend the day with."

Lucy shot a glare at Erza.

"Yeah." Natsu said "Happy is going on a job with Wendy and Carla so I've got nothing to do either." Natsu looked at Lucy who then tried to look as normal as possible and said "Hey Lucy! Wanna spend the day together? It'll be relaxing!"

Lucy gulped "Um..." She had no reason to say no. Or to lie. She looked at Natsu "Sure. It'll be fun right?"

"Right!" Natsu said.

Lucy glared at Erza who just simply smiled back at her. Then Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and began to walk towards the exit which forced her to walk with him.

"Today will be great Luce! We can can have all kinds of fun here in the city! We can grab lunch and-"

Lucy wasn't paying any attention to the suggestions Natsu was making.

She couldn't stop looking at her and Natsu's hands and how their fingers were intertwined together.

She could feel little butterflies in her stomach and the warmth in her reddening cheeks. She wondered why she was feeling so strange and nervous around Natsu today. Was it because of what Erza said? Or because of what she was thinking on her way to the guild this morning? Or both? Either way, if this was how she was gonna be all day, then she had a long day ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Just Admit it**

Lucy and Natsu were now walking down the streets of Magnolia side by side. Lucy was walking very nervous and unconfident like. While Natsu was walking his usual walk, like he didn't have a care in the world.

Lucy could still feel the little butterflies in her stomach. She was feeling very uncomfortable around Natsu because of what happened at the guild this morning. She usually felt fine around Natsu. Great even. Sometimes she even felt safer just being with him. Nothing bad even happened this morning. Erza's words just got to her for some reason. She just wanted to get this day over with as soon as possible.

"So, what do you wanna do first?" Natsu asked Lucy.

"I don't really care Natsu." Lucy said sounding very unenthused.

Natsu picked up on Lucy's lack of interest right away. "Is something wrong Lucy?" He asked

"No Natsu... I just-" but before she could finish Natsu stepped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"You know if anything is wrong you can tell me right?" Natsu said with a tilt of his head and with a big grin on his face, showing his perfect white teeth.

Lucy just stared at him and blushed slightly but the butterflies didn't get worse. She realized that she had no need to worry herself about what Erza said. She was just teasing her after all. She already knew Natsu as much as she needed to. She knew what he was her best friend and her partner. She had no reason to be uncomfortable around him.

She giggled. "I know. I'm fine. Great actually!" She said.

Natsu grinned. "Alright! Lets have some fun then!" he said

"Yeah!" She replied.

"_Maybe today will be a good day."_ Lucy thought. _"After all, I am spending it with Natsu."_

* * *

The sun has just started to set and Natsu and Lucy were making their way back to the guild after a long day spent together. Lucy was walking by Natsu's side with a big smile on her face. Despite what happened this morning, she had a wonderful day with her best friend and partner. First, they just strolled around town talking, then they went and grabbed lunch at Lucy's favorite cafe, then Lucy dragged Natsu to go shopping, and then they stopped by Lucy's place to drop off the clothes she bought and have some tea. They thought they'd end the day by dropping by the guild to sit down and relax a bit with their friends.

"Hey Natsu..."

"Yeah Luce?" He replied.

"I just wanted to say that I had a great day today. I'm really glad we spent the day together." Lucy said with a smile

Natsu looked at Lucy with a big grin. "I had a great time too Luce! Lets do it again some time!"

Lucy blushed a little but not enough for Natsu to notice. The butterflies started to stir in her stomach again but not so much that she was uncomfortable with it. They were more like little tickles than anything else. She just felt happy.

After walking a bit more they made it back to the guild where they were greeted by Happy, Wendy and Carla who were arriving just before them.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted at his blue feline friend.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted back.

"How did the fishing go?" Natsu asked.

"Catching the fish was fairly easy..." Carla said "Keeping them was the hard part..."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked

"Happy ate a lot of the fish we were supposed to deliver, so we didn't get paid the full amount." Wendy explained.

"You really are something... you know that Happy? Lucy sighed as she crossed her arms.

"Aye!" Happy simply said. "Those fish weren't even very tasty."

Natsu just laughed. The 5 then proceeded to enter the guild.

Just as Lucy stepped through the door she was hit smack in the face yet again by another snow cone.

"Oi! Natsu! I'm wanna settle what you started earlier!" The voice of a familiar ice mage shouted.

"Then why did you hit me with a snow cone, idiot?!" Lucy shouted at Gray as she wiped the snow cone off her face.

"Hey! You hit Lucy! You're gonna pay, snow prick!" Natsu also shouted at Gray.

"Bring it, loud mouth!"

The two then proceeded to fight as usual.

Lucy sighed and made her way to the bar where Erza and Mirajane were talking, and sat down in the stool next to Erza.

"Hi Lucy!" Mirajane said

"How was your day with Natsu?" Erza asked hoping to tease Lucy some more

"Oh, you spent the day with Natsu?" Mirajane asked excitedly

Lucy knew nothing good would come from this.

"Uh yeah." Lucy replied "And it was good Erza, thanks for asking." Lucy knew that Erza was gonna try and tease her again so she wanted to avoid talking about what her and Natsu did today. Especially in front of Mirajane. But it was already too late, and Erza didn't even have to say anything.

"Did you two go on a date?" Mirajane asked.

And just like that Lucy's face blushed a deep shade of red and little butterflies started to flutter around in her stomach again.

"W-what? No, we just..." Lucy said sounding much more nervous than when her and Erza talked in the morning.

"What did you and Natsu do today?" Mirajane asked wanting to know the details of her 'date' as soon as possible.

"Yes, tell us Lucy." Erza also asked.

"I'm getting there!" Lucy said who was slightly annoyed with their pushyness. "Well w-we just walked around town a bit... then we uh, went to a cafe and had lunch..." Lucy knew what she was telling them totally sounded like her and Natsu went on a date. "then we went shopping and then we went back to my place to-"

But before she could finish she was interrupted by Mirajane "Oooooo! So it was a successful date, huh?"

Lucy's eyes widened and her face blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"N-n-no! It wasn't a date like that! I-I mean it wasn't a date at all! We just went back to my place to drop my things off! That's it!" Lucy tried to explain.

"Oh? It sure sounds like it was a date." Erza teased.

"It wasn't!" Lucy tried to defend herself but it wasn't working

As the blonde mage tried to explain that she wasn't on a date with Natsu, Levy came over to greet her friends at the bar.

"Hey Lu-can!" Levy said

Lucy was a tad startled by her sudden entrance.

"Hey Levy, guess what!" Mirajane said

"_Oh no..."_ Lucy thought.

"What?" Levy asked curiously.

"Lucy and Natsu went on a date today!" she said

"Really Lu-chan? That's great!" Levy said feeling happy for her friend

"IT WASN'T A DATE!" Lucy snapped

Lucy's face was flushed a deep shade of red, from embarrassment and from frustration.

Mirajane explained Lucy's day with Natsu to Levy while Lucy was curled up in her stool trying to hide her face.

"Oh? Well even if you say you weren't on an actual date, you still spent the day with Natsu, so you do love him right?"

"W-what?!" Lucy said as she shot up from her chair. Lucy's heart started beating rapidly.

Lucy and Natsu were best friends, they were partners! Lucy loved Natsu but she didn't _love _Natsu.

"N-Natsu is my friend. And that's it, end of story. Can we talk about something else now? Levy, how did your job go?" Lucy said desperately trying to change the topic.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he liked you Lucy." Mirajane said.

Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing now.

"You two would make a cute couple!" Levy said.

"You two are always together. Where ever you are, Natsu isn't far away." Erza added

"Me? And Natsu? Pfffft that's just... pffft!" Lucy said not being able to think of any thing else to say.

Although she was trying to convince her friends and herself that she didn't have deeper feelings for Natsu, the butterflies in her stomach were going mad. And her heart was beating much harder and faster than normal.

Her 3 friends picked up on her nervous behaviour and her embarrassment. She was obviously in denial, they thought.

"Just admit it Lucy! You like Natsu!" Levy tried to convince her.

"No I do not!" Lucy said. She was becoming very frustrated with her friends.

"That's right!" Mirajane said "She loves Natsu!".

"Noo!" Lucy shouted desperately trying to defend her position.

"Lucy you have nothing to be embarrassed about." Erza said "Don't try to suppress your feelings."

"What? That's it, I'm outta here!" Lucy snapped.

The other 3 girls watched as their blonde friend got up from her seat at the bar stormed her way to the exit.

Lucy marched towards the exit. Her face was steaming and her heart was still pounding. But she was stopped by someone grabbing her wrist. She prayed it wasn't who she thought it was, but as luck would have it, it was.

"N-Natsu? W-what is it?" she said trying to hide her face from the dragon slayer.

"Where ya goin' Luce? I thought you wanted to relax here a bit?" Natsu said with his had still grasping her wrist.

"I'm relaxed plenty, I just wanna go home now, kay?" Lucy said, really wanting to leave asap.

"Oh alright. Well I'll see you tomorrow! Maybe there will be some better jobs we can go on!" He said just as she let go of her wrist.

"Yeah, sure. Bye." She said as she made her way to the exit as quick as possible.

Natsu looked a little puzzled. He looked back at the other 3 girls who were watching. They were just giggling.

"Jeez..." Natsu said "What's the deal with women?"

Lucy was now outside and making her way back home. She was beyond uncomfortable right now. He cheeks were warm and very red. The butterflies in her stomach were going insane. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably. He mind was racing with thoughts she couldn't get rid of.

"_Me? And Natsu? As if. They have no idea what they were talking about. I mean, he would never like me that way." _Lucy couldn't help but argue in her head. Only thinking of reasons why Natsu didn't like her. But not why she didn't like him.

Then she thought about the way Natsu held her hand this morning, and when he put his hands on her shoulders, and the way he grabbed her wrist just then. And how warm and caring his touch felt. She also thought about how she felt the whole day she was with Natsu. And how much she enjoyed just being with him today.

"_I couldn't possibly love him... could I?" _She thought as she made her way home, where all she wanted to do was relax by herself, and let this day end.

***Okay so I had barely thought of any of this before I had actually written it. This all came to me as I was going. But I think it came out fairly good. Let me know what you think!***


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Party**

Lucy was at home now, relaxing in her bath tub, letting it's hot and steamy goodness wash away her blushing cheeks, her racing heart, and the butterflies in her stomach that her time at the guild left her with. But even a nice, long relaxing bath couldn't keep her from thinking about what happened today.

"_Why were Erza, Mirajane and Levy teasing me so much? Why do they suddenly think me and Natsu should be together? What's with them?_" she thought to herself

"_I couldn't possibly have feelings for Natsu._" she tried to convince herself.

Then she thought about what Levy said. "_Just admit it Lucy! You like Natsu!_"

"_Admit it..._" She repeated in her head.

She began to think about Natsu now. How he always saves her. How he is so good at comforting her. How whenever she needs him, he'll come. How he makes her feel safe. How close they are. How much he cares for her. How happy he makes her feel. How attractive he is. Wait what? How attractive he is? Lucy couldn't believe what had just slithered into her head. But upon this thought sneaking it's way into her brain, she didn't shake it clean. She kept thinking about Natsu. She was now beginning to blush

"_Stupid Natsu..._" she thought. "_Why does he have to be so... amazing?_"

She just couldn't stop thinking about Natsu. It was like there were two voices in her head arguing with each other. One telling her she didn't love Natsu, and one telling her she did. And the one telling her she did was making some very good points.

Lucy was now becoming angry with herself. Her head was racing with questions she just didn't have the answers to. She was trying to hard to convince herself that she couldn't love Natsu. But she just wasn't sure about her feelings.

Then she recalled what Erza said. "_Don't try to suppress your feelings._"

Lucy was now holding her hair and shaking her head, trying to force the answers she wanted to come out of her head.

"Arg! I just don't know!" Lucy thought out loud. "I mean, I can't love him... but... I..."

Then suddenly she went still and she was completely quiet. Her eyes widened and her heart starting to pound uncontrollably.

"I think... I'm in love... with Natsu..." she finally admitted. "I'm in love with Natsu Dragneel.

She slowly began to smile and a slight blush creeped up onto her cheeks. But that smile didn't last for long

She began to recall when she thought Natsu had feelings for her but he really just wanted her to summon Virgo. Back then she was prepared to turn him down. But she still felt disappointed when she found out he didn't have feelings for her. She even felt hurt.

"Well... even if I do love him... there's no way he loves me..."

Lucy then got out of her tub. She dried off, and put on a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt. Then she went out into her living room and sat on the edge of her bed.

She let out a long sigh. "Maybe if I confess, he'll want to be with me... but what if he doesn't? Would this ruin out friendship?" Lucy thought out loud.

Lucy was now starting to worry about her newly discovered feelings for Natsu.

While Lucy was deep in thought there was a knock on her door.

"Huh? Someone's knocking? It couldn't be Natsu then. I wonder who it is." she said

She got up off her bed and walked to the door to see who was there.

She opened the door and standing in front of it was Wendy and Carla

"Oh, Wendy, Carla, what are you guys doing here?" Lucy asked.

"We just thought we'd stop by! Natsu said you seemed a little flustered when you left so we were worried about you."

"_That's just like him to worry about me._" Lucy thought

"Oh. Well thanks for your concern, but I'm fine, really. Nothing is wrong." Lucy said

"Oh, well okay." Wendy said. "Well I also stopped by to ask if you were going to go to the party at the guild tomorrow."

Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Party?" she asked

"Yeah! You left before master told everyone. He wants to throw a party because it's been a while since the guild had a big party. Everyone is gonna go! Even Laxus and Gildarts!" Wendy said

"Oh. Well it sure sounds fun." Lucy said

"Yeah! There's even gonna be a couples dance!"

Lucy's eyes widened and her cheeks started to blush.

"C-couples dance?" she asked

"Yeah! I can't wait! I wonder who I'm gonna dance with." Wendy said

Lucy just gulped.

"That blue cat asked me to dance tomorrow before we left the guild." Carla sighed

Wendy giggled. "Who are you gonna ask Lucy?"

"I uh I'm not sure yet." Lucy replied

"Oh. Well Natsu said he was gonna ask you so I guess you'll dance with him then huh?" Wendy said

Lucy's cheeks blushed a deeper red and her stomach did a flip. "I-I suppose."

"Alright! Well we should head home! See you at the party Lucy!" Wendy said as she started to leave.

"Y-yeah. Bye" Lucy said.

She shut her door and then walked over to her bed and laid down on it.

"_A couples dance? And Natsu is gonna ask me to dance with him?_" Lucy thought.

Lucy was panicking in her head, not knowing what to do about this.

Then an idea popped into her head. "_What if I make a move at the party during the dance? I could say it was in the moment and then see how he reacts... Yeah that could work. I could throw subtle hints at him too. All I'll wear something sexy to seduce him... yeeeeah._" she thought

"Alright!" she said. "Tomorrow... I shall commence operation confess to Natsu!"

***Sorry but this chapter is a little short. I didn't really have much of an idea of what I wanted to write for this chapter so I don't really know how I feel about it. I have an idea of what I wanna write next chapter though! Feed back would be appreciated!***


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: You've had enough**

It was the night of the party. Lucy had spent over an hour making herself look presentable. She decided to tie her hair up to look really nice and she decided to to wear a tight, skimpy red dress that showed quite a lot of cleavage.

"There. I'll be making some heads turn tonight." She said with confidence

"And hopefully one of them will be Natsu's." she added

After doing a once over of herself, she decided she was ready, and then left her apartment and made her way to the guild.

While she was walking to the guild she was trying to boost her own confidence in her head, and was trying to reassure herself that she could do this.

"_Alright... you can do this. You've seduced plenty of guys before not even meaning to. So how hard can it actually be when you try? It won't be hard. It'll be easy. But this is Natsu we're talking about here. He's wouldn't take a hint even if it hit him with a train... but I got this! I can totally do this._" she thought.

It wasn't much longer until she found herself in front of the guild doors.

"Okay." she said. "You can do this Lucy. You can do this. Commence operation confess to Natsu."

She gulped, straightened her back and stepped into the guild. Everyone was laughing, jumping around, drinking and having fun. Lucy scanned the room for Natsu. It didn't take long for her to pick out the pink head of hair. He was laughing and drinking with Elfman, Jet and Droy in the back of the guild.

She stared at Natsu. There was a slight pause before she made any actions.

"I can't do this..." she admitted.

She sighed, hunched her back and walked over to the bar were Mirajane was serving everyone drinks.

She sat in a stool and smacked her head against the bar table.

"Uuuuuugh" Lucy sighed

Mirajane took notice to Lucy's mood and walked over to talk to her.

"My my, aren't we looking nice tonight." she said to Lucy.

Lucy didn't reply

"Something wrong Lucy? This is a party! You should be laughing and having fun with everyone else!" Mirajane said.

Lucy finally raised her head off the bar table to talk to Mirajane.

"Sorry, I know... I just..." she said but didn't finish.

"Were you looking to impress someone?" Mirajane asked

Lucy looked at her with bewilderment. She wondered how on earth Mirajane was able to guess what she was up to.

"How did you know?" Lucy asked

Mirajane giggled. "I'm good at picking up things like that. So, who's the lucky fellow?"

Lucy sighed. "Take a guess." she said.

"Natsu?" Mirajane guessed.

Lucy nodded.

"Ooooh! I knew it! You two are so cute!" Mirajane said with glee. She was obviously very happy that Lucy just admitted to her that she liked Natsu.

"Well what are you waiting for? He's right over there!" Mirajane said as she pointed to Natsu.

"Well Mira... I came here acting all confident, thinking I would just be able to walk up to him and use my 'womanly charms' but now I'm not so sure." Lucy said as she laid her chin on her arms which she crossed on the bar table

"Just be yourself! Tell him how you feel." Mirajane said

"What if he doesn't catch on? Or worse, what if he doesn't feel the same way about me? What if this ruins our friendship?" Lucy said.

Before Mirajane could speak, a drunk Cana slid over next to Lucy.

"Hey Lucy! You havin' boy troubles?" she asked

"Cana? Did you hear everything we were just talking about?" Lucy asked nervously

"I heard as much as I needed to!" Cana said

Lucy blushed and gave Cana a small glare.

"You know what you need to boost your confidence Lucy?" Cana said

"Uh, what?" Lucy asked.

"Booze!" Cana shouted

Lucy just looked at her confused.

"Um... I don't really think-" but before Lucy could finish Cana slammed her hand on the bar table.

"Mirajane! Get us two shots!" Cana demanded.

Mirajane smiled and then proceeded to pour whisky into shot glasses.

She handed the shots to Cana and Lucy.

"Maybe if you get into the spirit of the party, it'll boost your confidence Lucy!" Mirajane said

"Right!' Cana added

"Now, down the hatch!" Cana said as he drank her shot.

"Your turn Lucy!" Cana said

Lucy just looked at Cana, then down at her shot. She gulped and then reluctantly drank her shot.

She made a sour look on her face and the coughed because of the intensity of the alcohol.

"Atta girl!" Cana said

Lucy just looked up at her and gave her a nervous smile.

"So, now what?" Lucy asked

"We drink more!" Cana shouted

"Mirajane! 2 more shots! Also get us two mugs of booze!" She asked Mirajane

Mirajane nodded and then went to pour their drinks.

"It's a party Lucy. Everyone is gonna be in a party mood, and if you wanna connect with someone at a party, you gotta be in the party mood as well." Cana told her blonde haired friend.

"O-okay." Lucy replied.

Lucy was unsure of Cana's plan but she would take any advice she could give.

Mirajane returned with the girl's drinks.

"Alright." Cana said. "Lets get this party going!"

"Okay. But I'm only having a few drinks. Got it?" Lucy said

"Alrighty!" Cana said

* * *

"HeY MiiiiiraAa! *hic* Me aNd Cana wouLd liKe moRe boOzE!" a **very** drunk Lucy said.

It had only been an hour since Lucy arived and she was smashed and was slurring everything she said. There were shot glasses and empty beer mugs all around her.

"Don't you think you've had enough Lucy?" Mirajane asked

"Pffft nO. MiRa... I cAn stoP aNy tiMe I wAnt." Lucy said

"Well I think I'm gonna have to cut you off Lucy." Mirajane said.

"Fine. I'm noT eVen tHat drUnK. WaTch. I caN waLk a stRaight line no pRoblEm at all. Okay watCh. Are yoU waTching? Okay. WaTch." Lucy said

She got up from her bar stool and stood up with great difficulty. She was trying to keep her balance just while she was standing. Then she carefully tried to walk in a straight line, which was not straight at all.

Mirajane shot a disapproving look at Cana who just shrugged.

Lucy returned. "See? I'm totAlly fiNe." she said.

Then she looked at Natsu who was now at a table with Gray, Happy, Erza, Juvia, Wendy, Carla, and Lilly.

She turned to Cana and Mirajane. "Oh no guYs, wHat do I do aBout Natsu?" Lucy said.

She had been to preoccupied with drinking that she forgot the reason she was here in the first place.

Mirajane knew it was now a bad idea for Lucy to talk to Natsu in the state she was in.

"Maybe you should just call it a night Lucy." she said

"WhAt? No! I jUst got hEre. I sTill neEd to confeSs my loVe to Natsu." Lucy said

Then Lucy gasped. "TheRe's stiLl the cOuPles daNce! I can't go hoMe!" She said to Mirajane.

Then she looked at Natsu with a determined face (as determined as someone who is drunk can be) and began to walk towards him. Or rather stumble towards him.

Mirajane signed. Cana just looked at Lucy trying to walk across the guild. She couldn't help but chuckle.

As she was walking towards Natsu, she walked past Levy who was at a table with Gajeel.

"Hey Lu-can. You look like you're having fun." Levy said as she noticed how obviously drunk Lucy was.

"I'm oN a misSion." Lucy replied

Levy just raised and eyebrow. And so did Gajeel.

"I'm goiNg to cOnfEss my lovE to Natsu." she whispered to the two.

Levy was a little shocked. Shocked that she admitted to loving Natsu and shocked that she was going to do such a thing as drunk as she is now.

Gajeel looked at Natsu and then back to Lucy. He started to burst out laughing.

"WhAt's so fuNny?" Lucy asked in drunken confusion.

"Oh nothing." He said between fits of laughter. "It's just that salamander has a lot on his hands tonight." he said.

Because Lucy was so drunk she had no idea what Gajeel was talking about.

"WhAteVer" she said as she continued to stumble her way towards Natsu.

"Good luck Lu-chan!" Levy said.

"She'll need it." Gajeel added.

Lucy was now standing in front of the table that Natsu was sitting at.

"Hellooooo evEryoNe!" Lucy said

"Uh hey Lucy." Gray said taking note on how drunk she was.

"Lucy, how much have you had to drink?" Erza asked

"MaYbe a lOt." Lucy said.

"Maybe a lot?" Lilly replied

"OkAy a Lot. But I'm toTally fiNe! No need to woRry!" Lucy reassured her guild mates.

Everyone at the table just looked at each other in confusion.

Natsu looked at Lucy. "W-well why don't you have a seat, Luce! I was waiting for ya to show up."

Lucy's stomach did a flip. Not because of the alcohol though.

"Okay!" she said.

She looked for a chair but there were none at the table.

"ThEre are no chAirs!" she pouted.

She looked at Natsu. "Natsu! Let me siT on yoUr lap." she asked.

Natsu looked a little nervous now. He had a run in with a drunk Lucy before and it was chaos. But everyone is drinking now so it should be fine he thought.

"S-sure." he said

"Yay!" Lucy shouted as she walked over to Natsu.

She sat on Natsu's lap and slung one arm around the back of his neck and used her other hand to grab his shoulder. Natsu had to use one arm to hold her back and support her so she didn't fall.

"There! Comfy!" She said

"Y-yeah." Natsu said.

Gray snickered and then Erza elbowed him in the side.

"So, does everyone know who they'll be dancing with?" Erza asked

"Juvia and Gray will be dancing together!" Juvia said

"What? I didn't agree to that." Gray said

"Carla and me are gonna dance!" Happy said

"Romeo asked me!" Wendy said

"I don't have a partner yet. Erza would you like to partner with me?" Lilly asked

"I'd love to." Erza said.

"Hey... you don't know what you're getting into buddy." Gray said to Lilly.

Erza elbowed Gray in the side again and he fell to the floor.

Natsu looked down at Lucy. "Guess that just leaves you and me, Luce!"

Lucy looked at Natsu and blushed.

"I gueSs so." she said.

Makarov got up on a table to make an announcement.

"Attention Fairy Tail. I wanna thank everyone for coming tonight. It's been a while since we had a good party. The dance will now begin!"

Everyone began to get up and make their way to the center of the guild where the tables were moved to make room for everybody to dance.

"You sure you'll be able to dance Luce?" Natsu asked "We can just sit. I'm no good at dancing anyways."

"N-no! We haVe to dAnce. We'Re partNers." Lucy insisted.

Natsu grinned. "Okay!" he said.

He guided Lucy to the makeshift dance floor where she struggled to keep her balance.

Slower but cheerful music began to play.

Lucy was glad it was a slow song.

Natu grabbed Lucy's hands and the two began to dance.

Natsu was doing most of the work because he was trying to keep Lucy from falling.

Lucy began to make small talk.

She gave Natsu a slutty smile. "So Natsu, whAt do you tHink of my dRess?" She asked

"Looks nice! Would of looked cooler in black though." He replied

That didn't work, so she needed to try something else.

She stepped in closer to Natsu. She removed her hands from his, and took his hands and put them on her hips and then wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her chest against his.

Natsu just looked down at Lucy. "Lucy... I think you being drunk made you forget how to dance right. Because this isn't the way you showed me." he said.

The only reason Natsu knew how to dance was because of Lucy, and she only ever taught him the one dance.

Lucy sighed. She now knew that seducing Natsu wouldn't work

"So Lucy, any reason you drank a lot tonight. It's not really your style." Natsu asked

"It's a sPecial ocaTion! And I wAs with Cana." Lucy replied.

"That explains a lot." Natsu said as he looked at Cana who was passed out on top of a table.

"Natsu, I neEd to tell you soMethinG imPortAnt." Lucy said.

"What is it?" Natsu asked

"WhaT if I toLd you tHat I liked you?" She said

"Huh? I already know that you like me." He replied

Lucy looked at him with a suprized face.

"Yeah! I like you too." he added.

Lucy realized Natsu wasn't getting it.

Lucy leaned into him more. "No Natsu, I meAn I _like_ like yOu." she confessed.

"I like like you too Lucy!" Natsu said

It was hopeless. Natsu was too much of a dim-wit to catch on to what Lucy was saying. The only way Natsu would know is if she used the other L word.

Lucy's cheeks began to blush, her heart started pounding and her stomach was doing flips.

OkAy Natsu. I haVe to conFess tHis to you." She said.

"What?" Natsu asked

"I lo-" but before she could finish she froze.

"What is it Luce? You can tell me." Natsu said

Lucy just stood there sill with her arms around him. Her face turned blue and she let go of Natsu.

"BATHROOM!" She screamed as she covered her mouth with her hands and ran towards the guild's bathroom.

Natsu just stood there in bewilderment.

Erza saw Lucy run into the bathroom. She put her ear to the door and then let herself in.

Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Wendy all walked over to see what was wrong.

"Is Lucy okay?" Happy asked.

"She's fine." Erza said. "She just had too much to drink."

Her guild mates could hear Lucy throwing up in the bathroom.

They all made a gross look on their faces.

"Natsu, when's she's done can you take her home?" Erza asked

"Huh? Why me?" Natsu asked

"Because I asked you too." Erza said trying to sound intimidating, and like always, it worked.

"R-roger." Natsu said.

* * *

After a little while of Lucy being in the bathroom cleansing her stomach of alcohol, she was on Natsu's back, still half drunk, being carried back to her home.

"Why do I always gotta do stuff like this..." he muttered to himself.

"Y'know, you're a real pain, Luce." Natsu sighed

But she didn't care. She was enjoying the warmth of Natsu's back too much.

There were little butterflies in her stomach and her cheeks were blushing.

Not much later, they arrived at Lucy's apartment where Natsu had Lucy's key to open up her door. He carried Lucy in and then plopped her on top of her bed.

Lucy laughed.

"Alright, there ya go Lucy. Get some sleep now. You're gonna wake up in pain tomorrow." Natsu said.

"Well you look fine now so I'll be leaving." he said as he was turning around to leave

"Wait." she said.

"What?"

"Tuck me in?" She asked.

"Fine." Natsu said

He walked over, and pulled her bed covers over her and tucked her into bed.

"There. Happy now?" He asked

"Mhm." she replied with a smile

"Natsu... you're like my guardian angel. You know that?" she said as she closed her eyes.

"How's that?" Natsu asked

"Well you always save me, and you're always there for me. Like tonight." she said

Natsu chuckled. "I don't know about being an angel. How about I be a guardian, and you be the angel?" he said. But Lucy was already asleep.

Natsu grinned and then gave Lucy a pat on the head.

"You weirdo. Goodnight." Natsu said.

He left her side and made his way out the door.

Lucy was asleep in bed, with red cheeks and a smile on her face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The hangover**

Lucy awoke in her bed the day after the party. The peaceful birds chirping where like little high pitched screeches, and the people outside sounded like a huge marching parade.

Lucy lifted her head off her pillow. "Uuuugh..." she said. She was very tired, and groggy. She felt dirty and gross and her head was pounding.

She was hungover.

She closed her window to prevent anymore sound from coming in.

"Oh my god... my head." Lucy said as she grabbed her head in pain.

Lucy got out off bed. She noticed she still had her dress on. She looked up at the clock in her room.

"It's noon?!" Lucy confirmed but couldn't believe.

She let out another painful sigh and then took off her dress and went into her bathroom to take a shower.

After her shower she put on a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, and made herself some tea.

"I can barely remember anything last night. The last thing I remember is talking to Mirajane and Cana." Lucy said to herself

Then she remembered the mission she had given herself last night.

"Oh crap! Natsu! Did I confess? Did I say anything to him or tell him anything? Did I do anything?" she said as she tried her best to recall the events that had occurred last night.

"Oh I really hope I didn't say or do anything to embarrass myself." she said

She picked up her cup of tea and took a ship, and then as she placed it back down on the table she knocked over an empty glass. Just the sound of the glass falling over made Lucy cringe in pain.

"Ugh, I'm gonna go and see Wendy. Maybe her magic can make me feel better." she said.

But just as she was about to get up there was a knock at her window.

"Ah!" Lucy said as she held her head in pain.

She looked at the window only to see Natsu outside of it, signalling to let him in.

She got up and walked to the window and let him in.

"Do you have to knock so loud?" Lucy asked the pink haired dragon slayer.

"Good morning to you too!" Natsu said with a grin "How ya feeling?" he asked.

"Like shit..." she replied as she held her head.

Just simple conversation was causing her head pain.

"Well I figured you were gonna be super hungover so I thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing." Natsu said.

"Y-yeah, thanks..." she replied.

"You were pretty crazy last night Luce." Natsu said with a chuckle.

Lucy gulped.

"Was I? I... I can't remember much from last night." Lucy told him

Natsu laughed. "Ha ha ha I'm not surprised. You were super drunk last night."

"Oh god..." Lucy said as she put a hand to her face to hide her embarrassment.

"Natsu can you tell me what happened last night?" Lucy asked

"Well lets see. You were drinking with Cana for starters. Mirajane told me you were shouting and laughing with Cana too. And that you were stumbling all over the place. Then you came over to where I was sitting and asked to sit on my lap." he told Lucy

Lucy blushed.

"Then we got up and danced. You leaned in really close to me for some reason. I think you forgot how to dance. You also told me that you had to confess something to me." Natsu said

Lucy's blush deepened and she gulped.

"Did... did I confess anything to you?" she asked.

"No. You left and threw your guts up in the washroom before you said anything." he told her.

Lucy hung her head in embarrassment.

"It sounds like I was a mess last night..." Lucy said.

"Ha ha it was a party, so it's nothing to worry about." Natsu said.

"After you were finished being sick, I had to carry you home though.".

Lucy's head shot up. "You carried me home?!" she asked

Natsu nodded. "It was a pain. I missed the rest of the party."

"I'm sorry Natsu." Lucy said "I didn't mean to ruin your night..."

Natsu smiled. "It's okay Lucy!"

Lucy smiled back at Natsu. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"Don't mention it!" he replied. "Like you said, I'm your guardian angle!"

Lucy blushed. "Did I say that last night?"

"Mhm. Right before you asked me to tuck you into bed." Natsu replied.

Lucy's stomach did a flip.

"Since you didn't get a chance, did you wanna tell me what you wanted to confess last night?" Natsu said.

Lucy's eyes widened and her face flushed red.

"Um... I uh I can't remember what I wanted to tell you last night. Sorry!" Lucy said.

"I'm sure it'll come to you." Natsu said.

"Hey! Me and Happy were gonna go get some lunch soon. Wanna join us? Maybe it'll make you feel better!"

Lucy giggled "No thanks Natsu. I think it'd be best if I stayed in today. I wouldn't last 2 seconds with out my head exploding." Lucy said

"Wah! You're head can't explode! That'd be bad! You're face is too pretty!" Natsu said

A surprised look appeared on Lucy's face.

"Well we can't have your head getting everywhere so you probably should stay here. Well I'll leave you alone to rest then. See you later Lucy!" Natsu said before he leaped out of the window.

"He just called me pretty." Lucy said to herself

She smiled..

Lucy laid down on top of her bed.

"Guess I'll just have to tell him another day." she said.

***Sorry for the short chapter. This is just a small sum up of the party. More to come soon!***


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: They liiiiike each other**

It had been a couple days since the party. And it had been several failed attempts to make Natsu realize that Lucy loved him.

She had been doing things like playfully pushing him, asking if they wanted to hangout alone with each other, grabbing and snuggling into one of his arms, and attack hugging him. She even kissed him on the cheek the other day to see what he'd do. All he did was look at her and say "Why'd you do that?".

Lucy was getting annoyed of her constantly failed attempts. She had to take action and get serious.

"Alright Natsu... I've got to tell you something. I know this is out of the blue and you probably don't feel the same way but I've just got to tell you. I'm in love with you. I have been for a while now. Every time I'm with you, you make my heart skip a beat. Every we hang out, you make me feel... happy. I just can't stop thinking about you. I don't know if you feel the say me about me and I'm not expecting anything like what happens in those romance novels I read. I just want you to know my true feelings towards you." Lucy said.

"..." There was silence.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"..."

"Of course you're not. I'm talking myself in a mirror..."

Lucy was in her apartment, sitting in front of the mirror in her bathroom. It was noon and she had just gotten out of the shower.

She was practising what to say to Natsu.

"Ugh no... that sucked. It can't just be out of the blue. It needs to be in the moment, and romantic. Or is saying it out of the blue romantic? Or does it just need to be somewhere romantic?" she asked herself.

She rested her elbows on her knees and then held her head in her hands and let out a deep sigh.

"Maybe if I just kiss him. Like an actual kiss."

Lucy lightly smacked her head in frustration.

"Arg! Why am I so bad at this damn it!?"

* * *

Natsu and Happy had just gotten up and ready to go, and now they were walking to the guild.

"Think there will be any good job requests today?" Natsu asked his partner.

"Hard to say." Happy replied. "There haven't been any good ones in a while.

"Damn it" Natsu cursed. "I really want me, you and Lucy to go on a good job. All I've been doing for the past week was hanging out with Lucy."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Lucy doesn't pay the bills."

Happy laughed

"You two sure have been spending a lot of time together." Happy said with a sly look on his face

"So?" Natsu scoffed.

"Well it's totally obvious that you two love each other." Happy said

"WHAT?!" Natsu shouted

"C'mon Natsu. Haven't you noticed the way she's be acting around you lately?"

"N-no! She's been acting normal!"

"Natsu I'm pretty sure you unknowingly went on a date with her twice this week."

"No we have not!" Natsu snapped

"Everyone knows you two love each other!" Happy teased

"Shut up!"

After a bit more arguing and walking, Happy and Natsu arrived at the guild.

Natsu and Happy made their way over to the bar to have a seat.

"Shut up Happy! We do not love each other!" Natsu shouted at Happy

"But it's so obvious that you do!" Happy replied

A curious Mirajane overheard the two bickering.

"What are you two shouting about?" she asked

"Natsu and Lucy liiiiiike each other!" Happy said to Mirajane.

"Do not!" Natsu shouted as fire spewed out of his mouth with rage.

Mirajane giggled.

"Don't tease him too much Happy. We don't want Natsu to burn the place down."

"Aye." Happy said as he sat down.

"But it's just so obvious Mira! Haven't you been noticing the way Lucy has been acting around him! She's acting all coupely and lovey-dovey!" Happy stated

"Lucy is not acting differently at all!" Natsu retorted

"Natsu, have you ever given any thought that maybe Happy is right, and that Lucy is trying to hint her feelings towards you? She hasn't always been like this around you." Mirajane said to the irritated dragon slayer.

Natsu held his chin and began to think intensely.

"This may take a minute." Happy said

"Hmm..." Natsu said as he was deep in thought.

It was quiet for a second.

"Nope." Natsu finally said

Mirajane and Happy looked at each other in confusion.

"Nope?" they both said in unison.

"Yup. Nope." Natsu confirmed.

"Eh?" Happy said

"Lucy doesn't love me. There's no way" Natsu said with a stern look on his face.

Happy and Mirajane just stared blankly at Natsu

"Even if she did, I have no idea what to do about it. I've never had any girl experience before. Like, it'd be ridiculous." Natsu said

"Aaah." Mirajane said, understanding what she thought Natsu was really thinking about now.

"You're nervous that she likes you, aren't you?" Mirajane asked

Natsu blushed and looked at Mirajane.

"What? No!" Natsu nervously replied

"Hahaha! Natsu and Lucy sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love! Then comes mirage! Then comes Natsu with a baby carriage!" Happy sang.

"SHUT UP!" Natsu snapped as more fire spewed out of his mouth burning Happy.

"A-aye." Happy said as he fell over.

"Well I don't love Lucy. And that's that." Natsu said sternly.

"Awh, don't be like what Natsu. Give Lucy a chance." Mirajane said. "You two would make a cute couple."

"Lucy doesn't like me, okay?" Natsu said

Mirajane gave Natsu a disappointed look.

And with that Natsu got up and walked towards the job board.

"I'm looking for a job for me, Happy and Lucy. AND THERE'S NOTHING ROMANTIC ABOUT THAT!" Natsu shouted.

Natsu was looking at the board for a better paying job, but there wasn't any that he could see.

"Crap. Still only shit jobs." Natsu said to himself

Natsu's eye then caught attention of a request that was hidden behind another one. Probably one what was accidentally stapled over.

It was S-ranked, and it was very high paying.

Natsu's ego and the large payment got the better of him.

"Oooooo. Were you hiding just for me?" he said with a sly grin.

Just was Natsu was scheming in his head, Lucy stepped through the guild doors.

"Perfect timing!" Natsu said

He ran over to Lucy, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the guilds closet

"N-Natsu!? What the hell?!" Lucy said

"Shh! I have a surprise for you." Natsu said

He had her pinned against the wall. His arm was next to her head, his hand pressed against the wall behind her. His face was almost touching hers.

She let out a small gasp.

"A s-surprise?" she sheepishly asked

"Mhm. Close your eyes." Natsu said

Her stomach did a flip and her cheeks started to blush.

"O-okay."

She closed her eyes.

Nothing happened for a second.

She felt Natsu put a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy's heart was pounding, and her mind was racing.

For some reason she puckered her lips and slightly extended her head, expecting her lips to meet Natsu's. But they didn't.

"Okay open your eyes!" Natsu said.

Lucy opened her eyes with her lips still puckered.

She shot back. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"Oh haha I thought that uh..." Lucy stammered trying to make an excuse for why she readied herself to kiss him. But then she realized that Natsu was holding something in front of her face.

"What's this?" she asked

"I finally found a job request for us!" Natsu said

Lucy took the piece of paper and examined it.

Her eyes widened.

"Natsu this is an S-class request! We can't take this!"

"Sure we can! If I had of finished the S-class exam, I totally would of made S-class! This will be a piece of cake!"

Lucy read the details of the request out loud.

"Wanted: A group if mages to take down a Dangerous dark mage. He is wanted for terrorizing villages, and for murder. Caution, extremely dangerous. This mage is very letheal. Only the most powerful mages recommended to take on this mage. Wanted alive, but dead if necessary."

A worried look appeared on Lucy's face.

"Natsu this sounds dangerous. This request came straight from the council. They almost never ask guilds for help with this kinda stuff, so if they are asking for help then this guy must be really really powerful."

"C'mon Luce! We can take him down! We've taken down a bunch of super powerful guys before!"

Lucy still looked unsure.

"I don't know Natsu. Wont we get in trouble?"

"I don't think so. It was behind another request so I don't think anyone knows it's there. Besides, look at how much it pays."

Lucy moved her eyes to the reward at the bottom of the page.

Her jaw dropped.

"This would cover my rent for atleast a year!" Lucy exclaimed.

"So whatta ya say partner? You up to it?" Natsu asked

"I still don't know. It sounds really dangerous. I'd be too scared."

Natsu then wrapped his arms around Lucy.

Her faced blushed.

"Natsu..." she said quietly

"You don't need to be scared. I'll protect you. It's my job, remember?" Natsu said.

He let go and put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with a big smile.

She smiled back at him.

"Alright, I trust you. Lets do this." Lucy said.

"Yes!" Natsu said eagerly. "Oh man I've been waiting for a job like this for a while now. I'm all fired up!"

Lucy laughed

The closet door opened and Gray was standing in the door frame with his shirt and pants off, wearing nothing but his boxers.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Gray asked

"Mind your own damn business! Why are you looking in the cloest?" Natsu replied

"I can find my clothes!"

Gray then realised that Lucy was in the closet with Natsu.

Gray smirked

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt both of your 'alone' time."

"That ain't what's happening here pervert!"

"What'd you call me, dragon breath?"

Natsu then lunged at Gray and the two began to fight.

"Will we leave tomorrow Natsu?" Lucy tried to ask as the two fought.

"Okay!" Natsu replied between punches.

Lucy smiled and then walked over a table where Wendy and Carla were sitting.

"Hey Lucy! What where you and Natsu talking about in the closet?"

"_I can't tell her or else Erza or the matser might find out that we're going on an S-class request... and she seen me and Natsu go into the closet? Who else saw?" _Lucy thought to herself

"Oh nothing. He was just being a dolt as usual." she lied.

"Oh, haha, strange." Wendy said.

Suddenly Carla's eyes widened and a look of terror shot across her face.

Wendy and Lucy noticed this.

"What's wrong Carla? Did you see something?" Wendy asked

Carla wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"It's nothing. Just random pictures that don't mean anything. Just caught me off guard is all."

"Alright." Lucy said

"Well if you two don't mind, I have to go get some things. I'll talk to you guys later!" Lucy said.

She got up and walked out the guild doors.

"Carla... what did you see?" Wendy asked

"Like I said, just random pictures."

"Pictures of what?"

"Pictures of a cloaked monster, and two people covered in blood."

Wendy's eyes widened and she let out a gasp.

"Who were the people?" she asked

"I... I don't know. The pictures went by too fast." Carla replied

"All I know is that something terrible is going to happen soon."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Time to head out**

Lucy was on her way home from the guild. She had a strange day so far. She spent her morning talking to herself in the mirror, practising how to confess to Natsu. Then she was dragged into the closet by the dragon slayer she loved and was convinced to illegally go on an S-class mission. Then Carla apparently had a strange vision, even thought Lucy didn't know what the vision was about.

She was on the streets of Magnolia, kicking her feet as she walked on the side walk towards her apartment. She stopped by a few shops to pick up supplies for her, no doubt, difficult mission tomorrow. She was walking with her celestial spirit Plue to keep her company.

"Me and Natsu are going on an S-class mission tomorrow. I'm a little nervous to be honest." Lucy said to her spirit.

"Puun puuuun!" he replied.

"We're supposed to take down this really dangerous mage. The whole thing kinda creeps me out. But Natsu assured me that he'd protect me."

"Puuun!"

Lucy smiled. "I know, he always does."

Lucy would always reply to Plue's sounds, pretending that she knew what he was saying so that she could converse with him and so he could properly keep her company.

"I know if the going gets though tomorrow, he'll keep me safe. Like he always has. He really is my guardian isn't he?"

"Pun pun!"

Lucy started to blush.

"Maybe I'll finally confess tomorrow. I'll stop beating around the bush and just straight up tell him."

"Puuuun?"

"Yeah. When would a good time be? After or before the mission?"

"Pun."

"Yeah, your right. I'll just wait until I know what moment feels right."

It wasn't much longer until Lucy was at her apartment. She unlocked the door and stepped in.

Her and Plue took a bath, and got ready for bed.

Lucy sat on her bed, cross legged, while Plue also sat facing her.

"I'm still really nervous about tomorrow." She said.

"Puun Puun?" Plue replied.

"Half because of the mission, and half because of Natsu."

She laid back, lying down face up on her bead with her head on her pillow.

"I've made my mind up though. I'm gonna commit to doing both. To being brave and taking this dangerous job on, and to confessing to Natsu."

"Puuun!"

"I'm still pretty worried, but I can do it. I'm strong, and I can't hide my feelings anymore!"

"Pun Puuuun!" Plue said as he spun around.

"Haha, thanks Plue! I'll talk to you later. Goodnight!"

And with that, Lucy's cute little spirit waved goodbye and poofed back into the spirit world.

She pulled the covers over her and closed her eyes.

"_Don't let me down tomorrow Natsu." _Lucy thought before she drifted to sleep.

* * *

It was the next morning. Lucy was on her way to the guild where her and Natsu were going to meet before they departed on their mission.

As Lucy neared the guild she couldn't help but have second thoughts about the mission she was about to embark on. She couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of something going wrong. She had this unsettling feeling in her gut.

Not much longer, she arrived in front of the guild where Natsu was waiting for her.

He noticed her approaching and gave her a big grin.

"Good morning Lucy!" he said

She smiled back. "And good morning to you too."

"You ready to go?" Natsu asked.

Lucy nodded. "Ready when you are"

The two then started to make their way to the train station.

As they were walking Natsu looked at Lucy. He stared at her for a bit. Examining her.

His eyes ran from the blue converse sneakers she was wearing, then to her black ridiculously tight skinny jeans, then to her light blue t-shirt and her blue stripped sleeveless cardigan, then to her chest which her blue t-shirt revealed very much of (like most of her clothes), then to her face, and then to her chest again. Then his eyes moved back up to her face. For some reason, he was awestruck by how pretty Lucy was today.

"_Was Lucy always this pretty? Well I suppose she was. But why am I only noticing this now?" _he thought to himself.

Then his eyes rolled back down to her chest again.

"_I've always known those have been awesome though."_

Lucy caught him mid-stare.

She crossed her arms in front of her voluptuous chest.

Natsu looked at her face. She was giving Natsu a very stern glare, signalling how obvious he was.

"Heh heh um sorry Lucy! I was just... uh..." Natsu stammered has he shot his eyes away from Lucy.

Lucy couldn't help but smile a little. Maybe if she wasn't in love with Natsu, she would of smacked him. But because she was, she liked that he was checking her out.

"Hahaha, try not to be so obvious next time. That might offend some other girls." she said

"S-sorry. It's just that... you look... really cute today." he confessed

A slightly surprised look appeared on Lucy's face. She blushed and then smiled.

"T-thanks Natsu."

The two continued to walk side by side, not saying anything to each other for a bit. Then Natsu decided to break the silence.

"So it's about time we went on a good job right? This should be exciting!"

Lucy looked down as she walked. Her face started to look a bit worried again and that uneasy feeling appeared in her gut again.

"I was actually thinking about that on the way over here. Maybe... maybe this isn't such a good idea after all." Lucy admitted

"What?!" Natsu said in a shocked voice and stopped in his tracks. 'What're you talkin' about?"

"This mission might be too much for the both of us. I mean... what if something goes wrong? What if you get hurt? I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you." Lucy said

Natsu's stared at Lucy with a shocked and confused face. Then he noticed how unsure and worried she looked.

"Lucy, you don't gotta worry about me. Just worry about yourself okay?"

"I'm worried for the both of us!" Lucy said with a raised voice

"Lucy, we can do this." Lucy looked away, still unsure about going on.

Natsu grabbed Lucy's hands. She looked up at him.

"I believe in us. More importantly, I believe in you. Can't you believe in me?"

Lucy just started at Natsu. Her cheeks blushed and then a small smile appeared on her face.

"I've always believed in you. I'll go, but you have to promise me that you'll be okay!"

"Okay, I promise." Natsu said with a smile

"Pinky promise!" Lucy said as she extended her pinky.

"Pinky promise." Natsu said and he grabbed her pinky with his own.

She smiled at him and he smiled back at her.

"Now c'mon! The train leaves soon!" Natsu said as he began to run towards the train station.

"H-hey! Wait up, dork!" Lucy shouted and she ran after Natsu.

* * *

"Uuuuuuugh... how much longer?" Natsu asked as he was lying down on the train seat across from Lucy. His face was green from his infamous motion sickness.

"We only left 15 minutes ago! And we still have another 2 hours yet." Lucy answered.

"I'm gonna -_hugh_- I'm gonna die before we get there..." Natsu managed to say

"Poor baby." Lucy said as she stuck her bottom lip out jokingly.

"Why don't you stop -_hurk_- stop making fun of me and try to make me feel better." Natsu pleaded.

Normally Erza would put Natsu out of his misery and would knock him out, but Lucy wasn't capable of that.

"Fine I suppose. Come over here." she said as she signalled Natsu to sit next to her.

"Thank you!" he said as he crawled over to the same seat as Lucy and sat next to her. He laid his head on her shoulder.

"No no. That's no good." Lucy said.

She moved Natsu's head off of her shoulder and onto her lap where he could lie down and rest his head. Lucy put one hand onto the side of his head. Natsu's head faced the seat he was just sitting in.

"This isn't helping." he said.

Then he turned over in his seat so that his face was pressed into Lucy's stomach.

She twitched slightly at Natu's action. She blushed as she looked down at the helpless dragon slayer face's cuddled into her stomach. She smiled and began to run her fingers through his pink hair. His hair was surprising soft and silky.

Natsu let out a muffled sigh of relief. "You're pretty good at this Luce, I feel a bit better already."

Lucy just smiled and giggled.

* * *

An hour had passed since they left Magnolia. Natsu was still lying on Lucy's lap with her fingers in his hair.

Lucy lowered hear head slightly to tell Natsu they were half way there.

"Natsu, there's only an hour left until we arrive."

Natsu didn't answer.

"Natsu?"

Very gently, Lucy moved Natsu's head so she could see his face. He was after falling asleep in Lucy's lap.

Lucy laughed as she moved his head back down.

"This has got to be the cutest thing that has ever happened to me." Lucy said as she continued to stroke Natu's head.

* * *

After another hour they had finally arrived at their destination.

"Natsu wake up. We're here." Lucy said as she lightly shook Natsu awake.

"Hmm? What?" he said as he got up from Lucy's lap and rubbed his eyes.

"We're here, doofis."

Natsu let out a big yawn. "Wow, that train ride wasn't awful at all. Lucy, your lap is like the most comfortable thing ever. I'm napping on it every time we go on a mission."

Lucy blushed and let out a small laugh. "Well I'm glad I helped."

The two mages made their way off the train.

They took in the town's atmosphere.

It was a small and peaceful town. They people seems oddly calm and relaxed even when there was a killer roaming the outskirts of their town. This place was almost kinda boring and bland.

"This place is really nice and peaceful." Lucy said

"Yeah. And quite. Too quite... it's suspicious." Natsu said with narrowed eyes.

Lucy arched a brow at Natsu.

"Try to not disrupt this peaceful town. Something tells me these people aren't used to action." Lucy said

"That's what's so suspicious!"

Lucy just sighed.

"C'mon, lets find our client so we can get this over with and get paid."

Natsu nodded.

The two made their way to the village library where their client was supposed to be waiting.

It was old and small. It looked like it had been there for over 50 years seeing how aged the wood of the building was and how old the door handles looked.

"Hello? I'm looking for a Mr. Elsworth?" Lucy said as her and Natsu entered the small building.

"Hello. That would be me." A man said as he came out from behind a book shelf.

He was an older man. He had short grey hair and a big grey moustache. He had on a green coat and a council badge.

"Hi! I'm Lucy, and this is Natsu. We're the mages you hired to track down and defeat the dark mage." Lucy said to the man

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Is it just the two of you?" the man asked, quite surprised that Natsu and Lucy were the only ones.

"Well uh yes actually. Is that a problem?" Lucy asked

"Well not exactly. I just would of suspected that more would be accompanying you. This is quite the difficult task I am asking you to complete."

"You don't have to worry about a thing old man! We're the only two you'll need!" Natsu said with confidence.

"Right, well I'm glad to see you're confident and up to the task. As you already know, I represent part of the magic council. That part that deals with small criminal organizations such as bandits and small dark mage guilds. Normally we don't ask for help but this one person has proven to be quite a difficult catch."

"What is making this so difficult for you exactly? I mean you're part of the council, this should be no problem right?" Lucy asked

"Normally you'd be right, but we've already sent in 3 groups of soldiers. None of them have yet to return."

Lucy gasped and Natsu got serious.

"Because of our current ranking, we aren't permitted to ask for the service of the higher council members. Until this person is proven to be a great danger to a large population of people, he's our problem. But because he's so strong, I've come to realize that my troops aren't skilled enough to take this murderer down. So I employed the help of guild mages such as yourselves. And if I'm am correct, you hail from Fairytail. So your status precedes you. Correct?"

"You're damn right!" Natsu said as he slammed his fists together. "Fairytail is the best of the best!"

"Excellent." The man took out a map and laid in on a table. "I've marked off places on this map that the dark mage may be lurking. There is a small forest north/east from here, and the ruins of a small fortress to the north. He's is in one of the two places."

"Alright." Lucy nodded. "Leave it to us!"

"Right!" Natsu added

"Great. I wish you both the best of luck." the man said.

Just as the two mages stepped out of the library they were stopped by Mr. Elsworth.

"Listen you two. I commend your bravery, but if you both really don't feel up to the task later on, there's no shame in turning back. You're lives are worth more that your bank accounts are."

"We don't know the meaning of turning back, mister. We'll be back before you know it!" Natsu said with a big grin.

"Very well. Good luck Natsu and Lucy."

The two then started walking through town, towards the woods.

"Natsu, I know you'd never run from a fight, but if things start to look bleak, we're turning around okay?" Lucy said

"Relax Luce. Everything will go fine." Natsu reassured her.

She smiled and nodded in comprehension.

But even though Natsu was here to protect her, and he reassured her things would be fine multiple times, she couldn't shake that unsettling feeling that remained in her gut the second they stepped off the train.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Into the unknown**

Natsu and Lucy were now in the woods outside of town. It was the middle of the day but because the trees were so big and wide, little light made it through so the woods was naturally always dark. And this fact did not help with Lucy's mood at all.

Lucy was creeped out beyond belief. Every shadow and every twig snap made her jump. She could hear her heart beating intensely. Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were widened making sure she could try and spot any movement.

She walked close to Natsu who was keeping his calm but also staying vigilant.

Natsu raised his head in the air slightly to see if he could pick up any scents.

"I can't smell anything out of the ordinary. Damn it, where the hell is this guy hiding?"

"How are you so calm right now?" Lucy asked. "I'm terrified."

Natsu looked back at Lucy and gave her a grin. Then there was movement in some bushes ahead.

Natsu grabbed Lucy's hip and pushed her behind him and stood in a protective stance.

They both stared at the shaking bushes. Natsu was ready to jump at the first thing that stepped out from hiding.

And all of a sudden, a rabbit jumped out from the bushes.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god, it's just a rabbit."

"Crap. Alright, lets keep looking." Natsu said

"Natsu, we've been in the woods for over an hour now. I feel like we're walking in circles. Why don't we move on to the ruins?" Lucy said

"Not yet! I wanna check every single spot it would be possible to hide in the woods."

"Natsu, please. He's not here, lets just go look in the ruins. I'm scared being in these woods." Lucy said as she stepped in closer to Natsu.

Natsu looked at Lucy. He now noticed how scared she actually was. He'd been to busy trying to spot their target to realize that Lucy was afraid.

His expression changed from serious to comforting.

"You don't have to be scared if I'm here, remember? I'll keep you safe!" Natsu said

"I know... it's just that this whole place and the atmosphere of the woods is freaking me out. Ya know?"

Natsu chuckled "Alright. Lets go check out the ruins now."

Lucy smiled "Okay."

Lucy took out the map they were given by Mr. Elsworth. "The ruins are... that way!" she said as she pointed north.

Lucy put the map away and the two headed towards the ruins.

Lucy was feeling a bit more comfortable knowing they were leaving the woods now, but she was still on edge.

While she was walking, Lucy started to hear whispers that sounded like they came from behind her.

She stopped and twisted around very quickly. "Who's there?!" she shouted

"What is it Luce? You hear something?" Natsu asked

"Yeah, didn't you?" Lucy asked

Natsu put a hand to his ear and listened. He could only hear Lucy's rapid heart beating.

Natsu looked at Lucy with an arched brow. "I can't hear anything Lucy."

"I-I heard whispers. I-I swear I heard whispers coming from the trees." Lucy said in a slightly panicked voice.

"Relax Luce. The woods is just getting to you. Lets go." Natsu said as he started walking again.

Lucy followed, keeping an ear open for any more strange whispers.

About a few seconds of walking, the whispers returned, but they were louder this time.

"_Lucy Heartfilia... you'll suffer... you're alone... you can't save him... he'll die... they'll all die... it'll be your fault... your fault..."_

Lucy turned around again. She froze with terror. Although they where still quite, she could hear what the whispers were saying crystal clear.

Her face was struck with terror. "I-I know you're there! Stop fucking with me and come out!" she shouted.

Natsu looked at Lucy. "Geez Lucy what is it?"

"Don't tell me you didn't just hear those voices! I could hear them!" Lucy said as her voice started to tremble.

Natsu ran over to the bushes behind him and Lucy to look for a sign of any one. But there was nothing.

"Lucy, there's no one here." Natsu said

Lucy's face was filled with terror, she was shaking furiously and her heart was beating loudly.

She couldn't avert her eyes from where she heard the whispers come from.

"C'mon Lucy. We're almost out of here." Natsu said

Lucy turned back to Natsu and nodded.

The two were fast walking now. Lucy had started and Natsu followed, knowing how badly she wanted to leave.

Instead of trying to keep an ear out for the voices, she tried to not focus her hearing anything. She didn't want to hear them again. So she kept her sight foward, and she didn't pay attention to what was around her.

But they continued.

Although they were whispers, it almost seems like they were shouting at her. And instead of coming from behind her, they came from all around her this time.

"_LUCY... YOU'VE KILLED HIM... HE'S GOING TO DIE... YOU CAN'T SAVE HIM... YOU'LL BE ALONE FOREVER... YOU FAILED... EVERYONE WILL HATE YOU..."_

"_WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"_

"_THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO!"_

"_YOU'LL DIE... YOU'LL BOTH DIE..."_

"_YOU KILLED NATSU... HE'LL HATE YOU... YOU KILLED YOUR BEST FRIEND..."_

Lucy stopped dead in her tracks and froze. And just as she did, there was a menacing voice that was filled with hate and anger that sounded like it came from directly in front of her.

"_**YOU KILLED THE ONE YOU LOVE!**__"_

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Lucy screamed

Lucy fell to her knees and held her ears shut to stop herself from hearing the awful things the voices were whispering to her. Tears started rolling down her face and she let out a sob.

"L-leave me alone..." she sobbed.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted as he rushed to her side. "Are you okay?"

"The voices... they're saying awful things..." Lucy said between sobs.

"There's no one here Lucy. It's just us. You're hearing things." Natsu tried to convince her.

"But... I-I heard them... they said... they said..." But Lucy couldn't finish before she started to cry.

Natsu took Lucy into his arms and stroked her head, trying to calm her down.

Then Natsu heard something coming from behind them.

"_Natsu... Natsu... Natsu..."_

Natsu glared where the whispers came from. He knew something wasn't right.

"Get up Lucy. We need to get out of here."

Natsu took Lucy's hand and helped her up. Lucy wrapped her arms around one of his and then the two proceed to run towards the exit of the woods.

Lucy still had a look of terror on her face and tears were still running down her cheeks.

After a little more walking, the two finally made it out of the woods. They walked over to a lone tree in a field to rest against.

Lucy was still trying to recover from what she heard in the woods but small sobs still made their way out.

Her and Natsu were leaning against the tree, and he was holding her in his arms, rubbing her arm, and doing anything to help comfort her.

"What ever they said Luce... it isn't true. The voices were just trying to freak you out. They don't mean anything." Natsu said

"But they were saying such awful things... things about me... and you."

Natsu wanted to ask what they said to her but he thought it'd be best if he left it alone for now.

"I heard them too after." Natsu told her

She look at Natsu with a surprised face. "Really?"

"Yeah. Someone or something called my name."

Lucy chuckled "Good. I thought I was going crazy."

Natsu grinned "Nah, you're not crazy Luce. You're a weirdo, but you're not crazy."

Lucy giggled at smiled at Natsu.

"Now... what do ya say we go find this dark mage and kick his ass?" Natsu said with a raised fist.

Lucy wiped her eyes and nodded. "Right!"

The two got up and started to walk towards the ruins, which was already in sight.

"I'm sorry Lucy." Natsu said

Lucy raised an eye brow.

"Why are you sorry?"

Natsu lowered his head because of how guilty he felt.

"You didn't want to go on this mission. But I made you come. And then you cried in the woods. That was my fault..."

"Natsu, you didn't make me do anything. Nothing is your fault either. I came on my own will."

"But you said it was a bad idea. You were against it weren't you?"

"I was at first. But I know that as long as you and I are together, we can accomplish any thing. I know you'll protect me, and I'll do my best to protect you as well!" Lucy said with a smile.

Natsu raised his head and returned a smile.

"As long as we have each other right?" Lucy said

"Right!" Natsu replied


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Soul Reaper**

Natsu and Lucy we walking towards the ruins of an old fortress, the only other lead they had on where the mysterious dark mage could be hiding. They two wasted a lot of time searching in the woods, only to be harassed by disembodied voices.

Despite what had happened to her back in the woods, Lucy was feeling confident again. She knew what Natsu said was true, that the voices were only trying to scare her, that they were only trying to break her, which they had succeed in. If it weren't for Natsu, Lucy would of been back in the woods still, weeping on the ground. Maybe even worse.

After they got back up on their feet again, Natsu apologized for dragging Lucy on this quest. Although she originally didn't want to go on this job, Lucy couldn't forsake Natsu for anything. She trusted him, and her trusted her.

Although she was feeling fine again, something was troubling her. She thought about what exactly the voices were saying to her. _"You've killed him" "You're alone"_. Why did they say those things? Although she thought they meant nothing, they clearly did mean something. At least they were trying to tell her something. But it didn't make sense. How could she have killed Natsu? Why would she be alone? She didn't understand. It might of just been hysteria from the darkness of the woods. But she didn't want to think about it anymore. She decided to think about something else instead.

Natsu. When could she confess her feelings towards him? Now that she was thinking about it, is it a good idea to confess her feelings towards him at all? Her friendship with Natsu right now is absolutely fantastic. He's her best friend. Ever since she joined Fairy Tail, Natsu has become the best friend she has ever had. Did she really wanna change it into something more? Could this ruin their friendship? What if he didn't feel the same way about her? Or what if they started dating and broke up, could they continue to be friends after that? If they could, it would probably never be the same. Was it worth the risk? These questions were making Lucy's stomach tie in a knot. If Lucy had just liked Natsu, then maybe she could brush off these feelings after a while, but she was pretty sure her feelings went deeper. She was pretty sure she had fallen in love with the pink-haired dragon slayer.

"Stupid Natsu..." she said quietly to herself

"Hm? You say something?" Natsu looked at her and said

"What? Oh um nope. Didn't say anything."

Natsu chuckled and then gave Lucy a friendly shove. "Weirdo."

Lucy laughed.

How could she possibly ignore her feelings? Is such a thing even possible? Yes, but it would hurt too much. Being with the person you love everyday, but not being able to tell them you love them. It would be torture. Lucy was definitely in a pickle. But she couldn't think about things like this now. She had to focus.

"So, what do you think this old fortress was used for?" Lucy asked her friend. There's no way he could possibly know, she just wanted something to talk about.

"Hm... maybe it was an evil lair for an evil mage. Maybe that's why this dark mage is hiding there!" Natsu replied.

"Um... sure." Lucy said doubtfully.

"Well what do you think it was used for?" Natsu huffed at Lucy's response.

"Well... it was probably a base of operations from long ago during the wars."

"What's the difference between what you said and what I said?" Natsu asked

"I said it with more intelligence." Lucy scoffed

"You trying to say I'm dumb?" Natsu snapped.

"I don't need to say it." she teased.

"I can be smart!"

"Suuuuure."

"I can!"

Lucy laughed.

It was no use. Lucy couldn't help but think about her being with Natsu. She couldn't hide her feelings from him. She at least had to tell him how she felt.

"Hey Natsu... can I tell you something?" Lucy said nervously.

"Yeah sure. What is it?"

"This... this is kinda hard for me to say... and I know this might make you feel differently about me... but I just need you to know this..."

Natsu looked at Lucy with a serious face. "You can tell me. No matter what you say, I'll still be your friend."

"_Just my friend?" _she thought. _"Well if we can't be more... I hope we can just stay as is..."_

But before she could speak her and Natsu stopped in their tracks. They turned their attention to the fortress, which was now just before them.

"You feel that?" Natsu asked

"Y-yeah. That pressure is incredible. I can feel a huge amount of magic energy. Coming from in there."

Natsu grinned. "I guess that means we found our dark mage."

Lucy gulped. "You ready?" she asked

"Oh yeah. I'm all fired up! How about you?"

Lucy nodded.

"Alright, lets go." Natsu said

He had completely forgot that Lucy had something to tell him. He did have a one track mind after all. Guess she'll just have to tell him later.

The two were now walking into the ruins of the fortress. It was like a little stone castle that had a winding staircase that went underground. There were lit torches that led down the winding staircase. After they reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a long, and unlit hallway.

"Oh man... this is worse than the woods..." Lucy sighed.

"Relax, I got this." Natsu said.

He lifted his hand and ignited his hand is bright flames so that the two could see.

"Well I suppose this is slightly better." Lucy said

They two walked down the long hallway for what felt like hours.

There were no doors, no rooms, no nothings. Just a long dark hallway.

"Where the hell does this lead? And whats the point of a hallway this long?" Natsu exclaimed.

But before they knew it, a light came into view.

"Is that the end?" Lucy asked

"Lets find out!"

As they came closer to the source of the light, the could start to make out the room that was ahead. And the magic pressure coming from there was intense.

It was a big dome like room with lit torches going around it. There was a table and several books shelves on the right side of the room.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Lucy said as the stepped into the centre of the room.

"And so you should." A voice from behind the two said.

The two mages quickly turned around to face the stranger.

He was tall and thin, and wearing a long black cloak that covered his face.

"Welcome." The man said.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked.

"I'm the one you've been looking for... Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy's eyes widened. How did he know who she was?

"How do you know Lucy?" Natsu shouted

"I know many things. I know who you are too, Natsu Dragneel."

Natsu winced slightly.

"My name is Larkleeon, the soul reaper." the hooded man said.

"Larkleeon? That's a stupid name. And what's a soul ree-pur?" Natsu asked

"It means he harvests things. And in his case, souls." Lucy said

"That's right, little Lucy. I harvest the souls of the living." Larkleeon said

"So is it safe to assume that you killed all those men?" Lucy said to the hooded man

"Your assumptions would be correct."

"Why did you kill them!" Natsu roared at the man

"Well for their souls you silly boy. They have no use for them, so I took them to ensure that they would be put to good use."

"What use would that be?" Lucy asked

"To make me stronger."

"So you ate their souls? Do they taste good?" Natsu asked

"HOW CAN YOU THINK OF FOOD AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!" Lucy snapped

The man laughed. "Well aren't you two interesting. That doesn't surprise me seeing you both come from Fairy Tail."

"How do you know that?" Lucy asked?

"Like I said, I know many things. And I can see your insignia on your hand."

"Oh... Well... tell me this, Larkleeon, was it you whispering to me in the woods?"

"Oh pooh, you figured out the surprise!"

Lucy glared at the dark mage. Then she noticed Natsu. His fist was engulfed in flames and he looked furious.

"So that was you, yeah? You made Lucy cry like that?" Natsu said.

The man nodded. "I could do it again if I wanted. That was just me having a little fun. I like to play with my food before I consume it."

"So you want our souls too?" Natsu asked

The man nodded again. He lifted his head into the air slightly and sniffed. "And from the smell of it your souls smell powerful and delicious. You must be strong mages."

"You're damn right, you bastard!" Natsu said

Natsu went to charge at the hooded man but he was stopped by Lucy who grabbed his arm.

"Why do you want souls to become more powerful? What's your motive?"

"Well..." The man said as he put one hand behind his head. "I want to rule the world I guess. It's a small thing I ask for and all I need to do so are human souls."

Natsu laughed. "Rule to world? Buddy I'm gonna smash your face in before you can even nibble on another soul."

"How many souls does it take?" Lucy asked

"You see, the more souls I consume, the stronger I get, but the souls I've been consuming aren't very powerful and the stronger the soul I consume, the better it is for me. So that's why I'll be consuming your souls. Once I'm done with you two, I should be complete enough, and I'll be able to consume anyone's souls I please."

"Complete?" Natsu said with a puzzled look on his face

The man then reached up to grab his hood, and pulled it down revealing his monstrous face. His face was like a humans, but it was skinless. His face was just exposed flesh, muscle and bone. His teeth were sharp, and his eyes glowed an orange tint.

Lucy's eyes winded and she put a hand over her mouth.

"Geez, aren't you ugly." Natsu teased

"Which is why I need your souls. Once I have them, the rest of me should fully form, and I'll be fit to take to the streets to consume any soul I want."

"What... what are you?" Lucy asked.

"Why... I'm a Zeref demon, child. Now tell me... are you afraid of the dark?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A living nightmare**

Natsu lunged at Larkleeon, his fist engulfed in flames. He threw a straight punch at his enemy's face but he dodged out of the way an into an Natsu's opening.

"Shit!" Natsu said. Larkleeon threw a punch and hit Natsu directly in the side. The force of the punch sent him towards the wall. Natsu positioned himself in mid-air so that he'd hit feet first and jump towards Larkleeon again.

This time Larkleeon spun around, his cloak extending all around the room, extinguishing all of the torches, and his form disappearing into black dust. Natsu's fist landed where Larkleeon would of been.

"What the hell? Come out and fight me, coward!" Natsu shouted.

Once again, Lucy was in the dark and horrified. She wanted to summon a spirit, but what good would they do in the pitch black.

"I know all about the both of you." Larkleeon said, his voice coming from all around the room. "I know your greatest fears."

"You don't know shit!" Natsu shouted.

"I know, Natsu, that your greatest fear is that you'll never see Igneel again."

Natsu winced slightly.

"I also know you fear that one day you'll let your friends down."

"Shut your mouth, dirt bag! Like I said, you don't know shit!"

"Your fear isn't very strong surprisingly, that bores me. But her... Lucy. Oh your fear is just oozing out of you. Mmmmmm I can smell it."

Lucy's eyes widened. She was horrified. She wanted to cry out for Natsu to come to her but she was to scared to move, let alone speak.

"For instance, Lucy, you fear that one day, you'll be alone. That you'll have no one."

"You leave her alone you bastard!" Natsu shouted.

"You fear that all your friends will leave you, you fear that they'll hate you. You fear that they'll die like your mother and father."

As Larkleeon was talking, Lucy could see images in her head. Images of her friends shouting and yelling hateful things at her. Images of her crying in front of her friends corpses. Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"It's me you want! Come on!" Natsu yelled, trying to get the soul reaper to focus on him instead of Lucy.

"You fear that you can't protect the ones you care about. You fear that you'll never have a family ever again. You fear that no one will ever want you."

"YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!" Natsu yelled.

"You fear no one will ever love you for as long as you live."

Lucy fell to her knees. Tears were streaming down her face. _"What horrible magic is this?"_ she thought. Her mind was filled with images of her being alone ,of her friends hating, of Natsu hating her. Even an image of her ending her own life.

"I ALREADY LOVE HER DAMN IT!" Natsu shouted

The images suddenly left her mind and her head shot up after hearing Natsu's words.

Natsu then spewed flames out of his mouth and around the whole room, igniting the torches once more.

"I'd never hate Lucy. No of her friends would. She'll always have a family."

Natsu looked at Lucy and smiled. "I'll always be here with her."

Larkleeon then rose from a shadow in the ground.

"Then I guess I'll just have to take you away from her." Larkleeon said.

Then a whip cracked across Larkleeons face, spraying his blood on the wall and floor. He looked towards Lucy who was standing whip in hand.

"I won't let you. He stays here with me, got it? You try and take him from me, and I'll kill you."

Larkleeon growled. "Fine. Guess you're first!" He shouted as he started to run towards Lucy, with elongated claws of shadow.

"Open, gate of the goat, Capricorn!" Lucy shouted as she shot her spirit key into the air.

Then her spirit Capricorn came out of the smoke that formed and kicked Larkleeon away from Lucy.

"You called, Lucy-sama?" her spirit said.

"Yeah, help me and Natsu take down that demon guy."

"As you wish." Capricorn said as he jumped towards Larkleeon.

"Alright, goat man!" Natsu shouted as he also jumped towards Larkleeon.

"Tch, fools." Larkleeon said as he put his hands to the ground and black pillars of shadows shot towards Natsu and the spirit.

Both dodged the black pillars and landed close of the demon.

Natsu threw a fire punch but Larkleeon dodged it, but was hit by Capricorn's attack. This continued for a bit, Natsu not being able to land a hit while Larkleeon took all of Capricorns blows.

"What the hell goat man? Save some for me!" Natsu said

"Sorry, but it seems he's more focused on dodging your attacks than mine." Capricorn replied.

"Hm... lets try this then." Natsu said.

He lunged towards the demon who readied himself to dodge, then Natsu suddenly jumped into the air, and while Larkleeon was distracted by Natsu Capricorn swept his leg, causing him to fall.

"**Roar of the fire dragon!"**

Larkleeon let out of cry of pain as he was enveloped in fire.

As the fire dispersed he stood up. Some of the flesh on his body was seared off, revealing only bone.

"So fire is your weakness huh?" Natsu said

Larkleeon just glared at the dragon slayer.

"Haha! You're toast then!" Natsu exclaimed

Suddenly Larkleeon disappeared into shadows and reappeared behind Capricorn, shoving a shadowy spiked arm through his torso.

"Capricorn!" Lucy shouted.

"I'm sorry... Lucy-sama.." Capricorn said as he poofed back into the spirit world.

"You bastard!" Lucy shouted at Larkleeon.

"Shame he doesn't have a human soul... I could really use one..." the demon said.

"Now that we know his weakness Lucy, we can beat him!" Natsu said

"Right. I focus on distracting him, and you attack him." Lucy said.

"Roger, partner!"

* * *

The battle had raged on for about half an hour. Lucy and Natsu we exhausted and covered in small wounds and injuries. Lucy had summoned Loki, Taurus, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. All were bested by Larkleeon, so Lucy was absolutely drained of her magical power. Natsu was tired but he still had some fight in him. Their strategy had been a success for a while. Because of Lucy's spirits, Natsu was able to deal a good amount of damage to Larkleeon. There was only a little bit of flesh left on his body.

"You... brats... how can... mere humans... do this? I... am a... Zeref demon... I can't lose..." Larkleeon panted

"You were destined to fail." Lucy said

Larkleeon shot a evil glare at Lucy.

Natsu ran towards Larkleeon but was stopped when the demon sent a shadow spike through his arm, pinning him against the wall.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.

She went to run towards Natsu to help but was stopped when another shadow spike shot through her thigh, pinning her to the ground.

Lucy let out a cry of pain.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted.

Larkleeon slowly stood up.

"I... won't be... looked down upon... by some... girl..." he said.

Lucy struggled to pull out the spike from her leg, but it was no use. All her actions did was spurt blood from her thigh and cut open her hands from how sharp the spike was.

Larkleeon then lifted his arm and pointed it towards Lucy.

"No! Lucy!" Natsu yelled

Lucy cringed, and braced for her near death.

"DIE!" Larkleen shouted as he shot a big spike pillar out of his hand towards Lucy's head.

She closed her eyes and awaited her death.

"I'm sorry... Natsu..." she said

But her death didn't come. Instead she saw a flash of light and Natsu standing in front of her. He ran to shield her. As he stood between her and Larkleeon he let out one last fire dragons roar.

Larkleeon screamed in pain. His whole body was coved in flames.

"AAAAARRRGGGGHHH! NOOO I CAN'T BE DEFEATED BY SOME HUMAN! IMPOSSIBLLEEEEEE!" Larkleeon screamed

Larkleeon staggered back and forth while screaming, before he fell to the ground, and turned to ash.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. Then she felt liquid running down her forehead. She wiped the unknown substance off her forehead to examine it.

"Blood?" she said

Then she watched as Natsu feel to his knees, and then collapse onto the ground.

Her eyes widened when she realized who's blood it was.

"No..." she said silently.

She crawled towards Natsu and carefully flipped him over onto her lap.

There was a giant gaping wound that went through his stomach and out the side of his back. It was bleeding really bad.

"No no no no. Natsu! Can you hear me? Speak to me!" Lucy said

Natsu coughed and then looked up at Lucy. "We... we beat 'em Luce..."

"Natsu you're hurt bad... w-we need to get you to a doctor!" Lucy said, her voice starting to tremble.

Lucy examined his wound and tried to position him so that she could lift him but he let out cries of pain. There was no moving him from where he was.

"S-shit. I can't move you, you're hurt too bad."

Natsu was back on her lap, breathing very faintly.

Tears were now running down Lucy's face and she was starting to talk hysterically.

"I... I... I have to g-go get you a doctor. You need medical attention. Shit! It's bleeding too much."

Lucy took off her cardigan, and tried to put pressure on his wound.

"Shit this isn't working. I... I... I..."

Lucy was bawling now. Tears were streaming down Lucy's face.

"I don't know what to do Natsu. I-I have to save you. I have to but I don't know what to do."

"Lucy..." Natsu said quitely

Lucy looked down at Natsu.

"It's okay... this was my job... remember? I'm your... guardian angel. I told you... that I'd keep you safe..."

"If you're my guardian angel then you're always supposed to protect me. You have to keep me safe forever. How can you do that if you're dead, huh? How?! How can you leave me alone Natsu... why... why..." Lucy weeped.

She pressed into Natsu's chest and continued to cry. Natsu was covered in blood and Lucy's clothes were covered in Natsu's blood.

Natsu lifted Lucy's head by her chin with his hand. Lucy cupped Natsu's face with her hands.

"I love you Natsu." Lucy said

"Heh... Happy was right..." Natsu said

Lucy laughed slightly. Then she slowly leaned down towards Natsu, where their lips met for a kiss.

As Lucy raised her head back up, she looked down and smiled at Natsu and he smiled back.

"I should of... taken everyone's advice... your lips are soft..." Natsu said as after their lips were apart. Lucy and Natsu laughed slightly but Natsu then cringed in pain and began to cough up blood.

"If I'm fast enough... I can make it into town..." Lucy said

"You're leg..." Natsu pointed out.

"I'll be fine. If I can summon Gemini then maybe-" Lucy said as she began to get up but she froze.

Her vision started to blur and she felt a sharp pain come from her side. She looked down at her side and noticed it was bleeding quite bad. The spike Larkleeon sent out managed to go through Natsu and then through Lucy's side. Then she fell over next to Natsu.

"I... I got hit too." Lucy said

"Looks like... neither of us... are leaving." Natsu said.

"Yeah."

"At least we... got the job done..."

"Yeah. Even though... we died doing it."

Natsu turned his head towards Lucy, and then she turned hers towards his.

"I'm glad that... I get to be... with my best friend until the end." Natsu said

"Me... too... Natsu." Lucy replied.

Lucy reached down to hold Natsu's hand and they both held each others hand as tight as they could.

Natsu's eyes then began to close as he fell unconscious and she felt his grip on her hand loosen as hers still remained tight.

Lucy's vision was still blurring in and out. Then she turned her head towards the tunnel they came from where she could hear foot steps approaching. She could only make out the silhouette of a person before she too fell unconscious.


	11. Final Chapter

**Chapter 11: I'll make it up to you**

Lucy awoke in an unknown room. She was laying in bed. She noticed all of her wounds and injuries were covered and treated, even her really bad one. All of a sudden should heard a voice from her bedside.

"Well look who's awake." They said.

Lucy turned her head only to see Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy and Carla.

"Lucy! You're okay!" Happy said as he jumped up onto her lap and gave her a big cat hug.

"I'm glad to see you're okay Lucy." Erza said

"Me too!" Wendy added.

"You guys... what are you doing here? And... what happened." Lucy asked

Lucy tried to sit upright but the pain in her side prevented her from doing so.

"You need to lay down and rest Lucy! You were hurt pretty bad." Wendy said

"You went on an S-class quest without permission." Erza said.

"You're lucky we found out. Mira was saving that job for Laxus. When she noticed it, and you and Natsu were gone, she assumed you both took it. So we came to make sure you were both okay."

"Natsu... oh my god! Natsu, is he okay?! Where is he?!" Lucy asked

The three mages stepped aside to reveal Natsu laying down in a bed across from her.

"He's... alive?" Lucy asked. Wendy nodded.

Tears started to well up in her eyes. "He's alive."

Lucy raised her arm to cover her tears of joy and relief.

"He's been in and out. He keeps trying to force himself to stay awake so he can see you when you wake up." Gray said.

And just as Gray finished, Natsu opened his eyes and turned his head towards Lucy.

"Lucy... you're okay?" Natsu asked

Lucy looked at him and nodded. "Mhm." She was smiling as her happy tears ran down her face.

"Good."

"Natsu... you broke your pinky promise to me." Lucy said

"Heh... guess I did."

"You better make it up to me."

"Sure thing... Luce." he said before he fell unconscious again.

Lucy laughed. "How did you guys find me?" she asked

"I directed them to your location." A man's voice said.

It was Mr. Elsworth, who just walked into the room.

"Your friends were worried about you so I informed them where you might be. Luckily this young lady was able to find you. And she found you both in just the nick of time. Any longer and you both would of bled out on the ground." he said

"Oh. Well thank you Mr. Elsworth." Lucy said

"No no, dear. Thank you. Because of you two, that foul demon is no more. You've saved countless lives."

Lucy smiled at him. "Now I'm glad I could help."

"Now... for the matter of your payment." he said as he reached into his pocket

"That wont be necessary, sir." Erza said

"Um... yes it will." Lucy interjected

"These two accepted this mission without permission. We can't accept your payment."

"Nooooooooo..." Lucy sighed

"Please please, I insist. At least accepted it as guild funds."

"Well I guess master wouldn't like if I turned that down. Very well."

"Good show! Well I wish both of you a healthy recovery. Stay out of trouble now, Fairy Tail." Mr. Elsworth said as he walk off.

"Erza _-sniffle- _you're so cruel." Lucy said

"Sorry Lucy. It's the rules."

"But my rent... and the dress I wanted... waaaah!"

The others laughed, as Natsu laid there with a smile on his face.

* * *

It has been almost a month since Natsu and Lucy's mission. They were both back in Magnolia where they belonged. During the month they're been back, the two have been in recovery. Lucy had to walk with a crutch for a while and Natsu was in the guilds infirmary for 2 weeks. But the two were fully healed now.

It was a quiet evening. Lucy was relaxing in her home, reading one of her books on her couch. When suddenly there was a knock at her window.

"Be right there Natsu." Lucy said

She unlocked the window and let the pink-haired dragon slayer in.

"You ever gonna use the door?"

"You ever gonna keep your window unlocked?"

She laughed. "Is there something you want?"

"Well not really. I just remembered that I broke my pinky promise to you, so I cam over to make it up to you!" Natsu said with a smile

Lucy blushed and giggled "That's cute."

"Well, how can I make it up to you?" Natsu asked

"Hm... I don't know. What's something nice you could do for me?" Lucy asked

"Well... I could um... I could..." Natsu started to blush, and slowing began to walk towards Lucy.

"I could... I could do..." Natsu was now standing infront of Lucy.

"You could do what Natsu?" Lucy quietly asked.

Natsu cupped Lucy's face with both of his hands. Lucy then grapped Natsu's scarf and pulled him closer so that their heads were touching.

"This." he said as we moved his lips to met hers.

Their lips moved together in a perfect rhythm, their chests pressed up against each others. His hands moved up and down her body.

Wanting to change from standing to lying down but wanting to break their kissing, the down managed to find their way to Lucy's bed, where they continued their make-out session.

Soon after, it stopped.

Lucy was on top of Natsu, smiling down at him, and he was smiling up at her. Then he laid down next to him, snuggling into his chest.

"That was a nice thing to do." Lucy said

"I can make it up to you again if you want." Natsu said

Lucy giggled.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Natsu."

"I'm glad you're okay too, Lucy."

"You'll continue to be my guardian angel right?"

"Always."

* * *

**And that's the end folks! Not all that bad for my first fanfic I'd say! Tell me what you thought of it! **

**I've learned a lot from writing this. I'm gonna use what I've learned to write another, and hopefull better, fanfic. Expect more from me soon!**


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